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CINE-TALK

By Fatima Zakir
23 December, 2016

The year 2016 proved that we all love superheroes. Seems like it’s the rage these days whether its Marvel or DC Comics’ characters. The superheroes, who once were considered a nerd’s dream, are now ruling us all. From Joker to Captain America, we are all simply hooked.

2016 – Money making movies

The year 2016 proved that we all love superheroes. Seems like it’s the rage these days whether its Marvel or DC Comics’ characters. The superheroes, who once were considered a nerd’s dream, are now ruling us all. From Joker to Captain America, we are all simply hooked.

This is a clear shift of taste from the serious drama -thrillers to superheroes’ world. And we are all hit by the craze so hard that we even love the villains of these movies. Case in point, the scribe’s favourite Marvel character is a villain too – Loki – and no it’s not because it’s played by Tom Hiddleston; I loved Loki even before I started liking Tom Hiddleston.

Coming back to the movies this year, Disney has had a blast. Amongst the top 10 most grossing movies of the year, they celebrate five of theirs. Narrowing it further down, they boast to have top four movies in 2016 under their banner. What a year for Disney!

It has been a year of Captain America, Dory, Harley Quinn and Doctor Strange. Yes, the Halloween this year proved how much Harley Quinn and Doctor Strange were the unmatched rulers of costume events.  

Let’s take a look at the highest grossers of 2016 with a rundown of animations and superheroes. So if you like this genre then you probably loved 2016 but if you didn’t, I am sure Sully, Inferno, Now You See Me 2, Jason Bourne, Bridget Jones’s Baby, Snowden, The Girl on the Train, The Accountant kept you entertained.

Captain America: Civil WarCINE-TALK

It was more of an Avengers movie than Captain America, as we could enjoy Iron Man, Spider Man, Hawkeye, Ant-Man, Black Widow, War Machine, Vision and Scarlet Witch besides Winter Soldier and Black Panther. Oh yes, all of these characters in one Captain America. Where Captain America locked horns with Iron Man on screen, the audience joined them. After all, the civil war was not just confined to the screen but was spread out to us, mere mortals with no powers at all, too.

Civil War was the final installment of the Captain America trilogy that started with The First Avenger and there are no talks about extending the franchise maybe if we want to see more of Captain America that will be through Avengers.

Finding DoryCINE-TALK

When Finding Nemo was released in 2003, it became an instant success. Dory, who was a supporting character in the movie, developed a soft corner in our hearts and made us all fall in love with her. When Disney announced a sequel to the movie, and we had to think who will be lost this time around, it was no surprise that Dory won the title especially because she suffers from short-term memory loss.

The movie was released in June this year and became the second highest grossing movie of the year. Now, we all expected it to do well but Dory swimming her way to the top two says a lot about her adorableness and likeability.

ZootopiaCINE-TALK

Welcome to the world of animals. This world also has their share of good animals and bad animals, criminals and heroes, friendships and betrayals. All of these combined together for Zootopia. These animals taught us life’s great lessons about how practical life is different from what we dream it to be. How prejudices close our doors to new people and ideas. It also focused on a strong female character making us all wish our daughters should be more like Judy Hopps than Cinderella.

Very rightfully,  Zootopia won hearts and charts.

The Jungle BookCINE-TALK

Mowgli! Oh, how much we love Mowgli. The young, skinny, adventurous kid was back in 2016 and this time on the big screen to sway us all. He was that little kid to us whom we thought was our responsibility to protect. This year again, Mowgli was adorable and extremely courageous.

Disney’s The Jungle Book made it to the top four and we are glad it did because it taught us family values, morality and fighting against injustice.

The Secret Life of PetsCINE-TALK

With Zootopia, Jungle Book and now Secret Life of Pets, it seems like we are quite interested in knowing about the world of animals. The Secret Life of Pets portrays how similar they are to us in terms of making friends, backstabbing, jealousy and the coping mechanism.

It was a sweet, fun movie that grossed surprisingly too well at the box office.

DeadpoolCINE-TALK

Who thought Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool, who appeared for a cameo in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, will get a feature film and will do wonders at the box office too? Surprise, surprise! Deadpool hit the theatres in 2016, and was an immediate success. Well, no one can deny the fact that Deadpool as a character was pretty awesome as well. Even in the small role he had in X-Men Origins, he managed to grab attention. After the success of this movie, the filmmakers have announced a sequel to Deadpool. Guys, get ready for more fun and action … and some adult humour, too.

Suicide SquadCINE-TALK

Admit it, most of us watched it for Will Smith but half way through the movie we all were in love with a) Harley Quinn and b) Joker. Who says this Joker is not as good as Heath Ledger? He was equally spine chilling, if not more!

Warner Bros. Suicide Squad without any question is rightfully amongst the top 10 movies of the year.

Doctor StrangeCINE-TALK

And we are back to Disney/Marvel. Released in December, Doctor Strange made it to the list of top 10 in no time. If we would have given it more time, it might have climbed up a couple of movies in the list, as it is still running in the cinemas.

It was one of the most highly anticipated movies of the year with Benedict Cumberbatch in the lead. Explanatory enough. Doctor Strange was an engaging, visually appealing and intellectually smart movie with some effective VFX, and of course an interesting storyline. Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange once again mesmerized us all with his charisma and presence.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find ThemCINE-TALK

Also released in December, this Warner Bros. movie made it to the top 10 list due to the magical world J.K. Rowling created as the writer of the movie. This movie is a prequel to Harry Potter film series and is inspired from her book of the same name.

Since it’s the base on which the magical world of Harry Potter is built, one can just imagine how much thought and charm this movie will have to keep you enchanted. Yes, that’s true. It’s the kind of movie that will take you inside the screen and you will forget about your surroundings. J.K. Rowling has done it again!

There were a number of other great movies released in 2016 that are worth watching. So here’s a list for you in case you missed any… The Finest Hours, Eddie the Eagle, X-Men Apocalypse, Me Before You, Ice Age: Collision Course, Kung Fu Panda 3, Moana, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, etc. In the meanwhile, keep waiting for Rogue One and Assassin’s Creed.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of JusticeCINE-TALK

Dark, ambiguous and drag, this Batman vSuperman movie might have grossed well at thebox office but was not that great if you look atboth the franchises separately. Maybe combiningthem was not a good idea after all. In this,we got to see Ben Affleck as Batman instead ofour usual Christian Bale and I guess it will takesome time to accept Ben Affleck in the role.Since I love superhero movies, I was expectinga lot more than the movie offered. Any way,it was commercially successful and for the filmmakersthat’s all that matters.

Happy winters!